Rolling cultivator

ABSTRACT

An elongate cultivating tool adapted to be supported at each end so as to be able in use to rotate about a longitudinal axis. The cultivating tool comprises an elongate cylindrical support which may be a helical coil spring, a plurality of cultivating elements on a peripheral cylindrical surface of the cylindrical support, each cultivating element linking up with four other like cultivating elements on the peripheral cylindrical surface and one and preferably two tines extending from each cultivating element. There may be two banks of cultivating elements on the tool to give a greater number of tines on the tool. The axle to support the cylindrical support for rotation may be telescopic to provide tension to maintain the position of the cultivating elements. The cultivating elements are formed from metal rod and in one form comprise a U-shaped body with each leg of the U-shaped body including a bend out of the plane of the body with each portion beyond the bend comprising a tine. In another form the elements comprise a circular loop portion, two tangential legs extending from the loop portion and crossing each other and each leg including a bend out of the plane of the loop portion beyond the crossing with each portion of the leg beyond the bend comprising the tine.

FIELD OF INVENTION

This invention relates to an implement suitable as a cultivator foragricultural ground working and more particularly to a cultivatoradapted to roll.

The invention will be generally discussed in relation to its use as aagricultural implement but it is to be realised that it is notrestricted to that use. For instance the device may be adapted to beused as a ground roller for compacting ground.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Cultivators am used to cultivate ground but with a move to trash farmingor farming in which stubble and straw is left on the ground thencultivators which are normally dragged across the ground get easilyclogged with such straw and stubble and become ineffective. Pricklechain harrows which consist essentially of a chain with a number ofspikes extending from it which are dragged across the ground at an angleto transverse to the direction of travel of the cultivator to give arolling motion provide a degree of cultivation but the tines can easilyget blocked up with trash. Further, the weight of such a chain can beinsufficient to cause sufficient ground working for suitable cultivationin some types of soils.

Australian Patent specification No. 612,585 published 21 st Jan. 1988discloses a ground working tool which has groups of tool elementsconnected longitudinally together to form a chain which when held intension form a prickle chain. Each tool element has at least one tineextending radially out from it. Although there are significantadvantages in having a chain system in which an assembly is made up of aseries of replaceable links there are several problems with the systemdisclosed. A first problem is that the number of tool elements in eachgroup is restricted to two or three because they need to touch eachother to provide mutual support and any greater number would form anunstable group which would collapse under conditions of use. Otherproblems which exist are that the total weight of the chain isinsufficient to provide ground working in other than quite light soilsand the maximum possible diameter does not allow for good ground entry,track of cultivation and trash clearance. Extending the lengths of thetines to give a greater diameter is impractical because longer tines areliable to break.

It is the object of this invention to provide an implement suitable as arolling or rotating type cultivator which can have a greater overalldiameter than existing prickle chain harrows and hence will not catch somuch trash and which can have sufficient weight to provide goodcultivation.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one form therefore the invention is said to reside in an elongateground working implement adapted to be supported at each end thereof soas to be able in use to rotate about a longitudinal axis thereof,wherein the ground working implement comprises an elongate cylindricalsupport, a plurality of cultivating elements on a peripheral cylindricalsurface of the cylindrical support, each cultivating element includingmeans to link up with other like cultivating elements on the peripheralcylindrical surface and at least one tine extending from eachcultivating element and means to support the cylindrical support on thelongitudinal axis for rotation thereabouts.

It will be seen that by this invention there is provided a groundworking implement or cultivator which comprises a cylindrical supportwith a number of cultivating elements on the surface of and extendingout from it and which can be dragged along the ground with a rollingtype motion to cause cultivation.

If the ground working implement or cultivator is drawn along the groundwith the longitudinal axis of the cylindrical support at an angle totransverse to the direction of motion then the cultivating elements ortines will effect cultivation of the ground over which it is drawn. Thisis because each tine of the cultivating elements does not just enter theground and leave the ground but is drawn sideways while it is in theground so giving cultivation by displacement of soil.

Effectively the ground working implement or cultivator is a cylindricalsupport with a chain mail type assembly of cultivating elements over thesurface with each of the elements of the chain mail having at least onetine.

The cylindrical support is preferably flexible or resilient in itslongitudinal direction so as to provide a degree of ground following inrough or sloping terrain and also preferably the cylindrical support isa weight to assist with providing good cultivation by pushing each tinea sufficient depth into the ground.

In one preferred embodiment the cylindrical support is a helical coilspring.

Preferably the coils of the coil spring are made from flat bar used onthe flat so the cylindrical surface provides a surface which gives adegree of support for the cultivating elements. The number of coils andthe spacing between the coils of the coil spring can assist to providethis support surface.

Each of the cultivating elements is not fastened to the surface of thecylindrical support such as the coiled spring but each cultivatingelement is interconnected with its adjacent cultivating elements toprovide an integral assembly over the peripheral cylindrical surface ofthe coil spring.

Other forms of cylindrical support with flexibility and resiliency mayalso be used.

The cylindrical support may have an axle with the cylindrical supportmounted at its ends to the axle so that the body between the ends isfree to flex during ground following during operation. The axle mayinclude means such as spring loaded telescoping to allow for theapplication of tension to the cultivating element assembly to hold thecultivating elements together. The amount of spring tension will varythe tension in the cultivating elements and hence the degree offlexibility of the assembly as a whole. If it is desired to have alooser cultivating tool for better ground following then the springtension may be reduced.

Other forms of tensioning such as a spring loaded chassis upon which theground working tool is carried may be used to provide tension to theassembly of cultivating elements.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention each of the cultivatingelements is interconnected with four adjacent cultivating elementsaround the circumference of the cylindrical support and along the lengthof the cylindrical support to provide an integral structure ofcultivating elements over the peripheral cylindrical surface of thecylindrical support.

There may be end assemblies at each end of the cylindrical support, theend assemblies including means to retain the first and last groups ofcultivating elements.

In one preferred embodiment of the invention, each cultivating elementmay be formed from a metal rod and have a substantially U-shaped bodycomprising a base and two side legs extending from the base with eachleg of the U-shaped body including a bend out of the plane of theU-shaped body so that each portion beyond the bend comprises the tine.Hence, for this embodiment there are two tines per element. The angle ofthe bend may be from an acute angle to a right angle.

Preferably each leg of the U-shaped body is slightly closer together atthe tine end than at the base end. This is because when they areassembled onto a cylindrical support the circumference at the radialdistance of the base which is raised by the thickness of the rod fromthe cylindrical support is greater than the radial distance at the tineend which rests on to the cylindrical support.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the base of each of the Ushaped cultivating elements may be bent slightly out of the plane of theU shaped element to give a recess under the base into which the tine ofthe next element fits. This provides a substantially flat undersurfaceof the linked elements to engage against the peripheral cylindricalsurface of the cylindrical support and allows the leg of an adjacenttine to fit under the base.

The connection between the adjacent cultivating elements may be by thebase of a tine hooking into one corner of the base of the nextlongitudinal element. The next circumferential element has a base of atine which hooks into the other side of the base of the U-shaped portionof the tine.

By this means, cultivating elements may be linked onto adjacentcultivating elements sequentially down the length and around thecircumference of the cylindrical support to provide the chain mail typeassembly on the surface of the finished rolling cultivator.

In an alternative form each cultivating element is formed from a metalrod and comprises a circular loop portion, two tangential legs extendingfrom the loop portion and crossing each other and with each legincluding a right angled bend out of the plane of the loop portionbeyond the crossing point with each portion of the leg beyond the bendcomprising the tine. The connection between adjacent cultivatingelements of this embodiment is by one leg each of two adjacentcultivating elements passing under the circular loop portion and itstine extending up inside the circular portion. Once again a chain mailtype assembly is obtained around the circumference and along the lengthof the cylindrical support.

In an alternative form of the elongate ground working implement of thepresent invention the plurality of cultivating elements on theperipheral cylindrical surface of the cylindrical support may comprise adouble bank of cultivating elements so as to provide more ground workingtines extending from the tool.

In such an embodiment each cultivating element may be substantiallyU-shaped with each leg of the U-shaped portion including a right angledbend out of the plane of the U-shaped portion with each portion beyondthe bend comprising the tine and wherein a base portion of thesubstantially U-shaped portion cultivating element is bent out of theplane of the U-shaped portion so as to allow legs of an adjacentcultivating element of both banks of cultivating elements to passunderneath it when mounted onto the cylindrical support.

There may be from four to ten or more cultivating elements in each bankof cultivating elements around the circumference of the cylindricalsupport at one position along the length of the of the cylindricalsupport.

The cylindrical support may have a diameter of perhaps 200 to 500 mm andeach cultivating element may have a tine length of perhaps 200 to 300mm.

This gives an overall diameter of the rolling cultivator according tothis invention of from 600 mm up to over 1000 mm. With the cylindricalsupport having a diameter of 350 mm there may be eight cultivatingelements around the circumference of the cylindrical support at oneposition along the length of the of the cylindrical support and thiswill give 16 tines extending out from the surface. Each tine may beslightly splayed out sideways from its opposing tine on the cultivatingelement so that the tines extend substantially radially with respect tothe cylindrical support. Other numbers of cultivating elements such asfrom four to ten or more cultivating elements around the circumferenceof the cylindrical support at one position along the length of the ofthe cylindrical support may also be used.

It will be noted that with a diameter of up to 1000 mm that as each tineleaves the ground after cultivation it does so while it is stillpointing substantially downwards such that it clears well of trash. In amuch smaller diameter cultivator as for instance the prickle chainharrows the angle at which the tines leave the ground is much greaterand hence can lift trash up to an extent that it can tangle with thetines and clog them.

With a larger diameter as provided by the cylindrical support of thepresent invention there may occur a greater rotational speed of the tipsof the which will also assist with clearing of trash.

The cylindrical support may be mounted to a chassis with one end fixedfor rotation about the longitudinal axis of the cylindrical support andthe other end mounted to the chassis for rotation about the longitudinalaxis of the cylindrical support and also to flex to allow for groundfollowing during operation. The angle at which the rolling cultivator isdragged along the ground during use may be adapted to be varied so as togive various degrees of cultivation. The angle may be from transverse tothe direction of travel of the implement to which the ground workingtool is mounted up to about 45° to 50° to transverse to the angle oftravel.

There may be two or more ground working tools according to thisinvention mounted to a chassis to give a wide swathe of cultivation. Thechassis may include means to fold the tools into a central transportposition.

For the application of this invention to devices other than agriculturalequipment then the diameter of the cylindrical support, the number ofcultivating elements and the length of the tines may be varied. Forinstance in the construction of a earth compactor of the type known as asheep's foot roller the device of the present invention may have adiameter of the cylindrical support of up to two meters, up to sixtytines around the circumference and a tine length of 100 mm. Such aroller would be rolled straight along the ground rather than at anangle.

This then generally describes the invention, but to assist withunderstanding reference will now be made to the accompanying drawingswhich show a preferred embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the drawings,

FIG. 1 shows a general view of a ground working tool according to oneembodiment of the invention,

FIG. 2 shows one embodiment of a cultivating element of the presentinvention,

FIG. 3 shows an alternative embodiment of a cultivating element of thepresent invention,

FIG. 4 shows an assembly of a number of cultivating elements of theembodiment as shown in FIG. 2,

FIG. 5 shows a detail of a number of cultivating elements of theembodiment shown in FIG. 3 linked together,

FIG. 6 shows a detail of a number of cultivating elements on a portionof a cylindrical support,

FIG. 7 shows a complete cross sectional view of a ground working toolaccording to one embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 8 shows a detail of an end view of the ground working tool shown inFIG. 7 showing how the cultivating elements are mounted at one end,

FIG. 9 shows a detail of an end view of the ground working tool shown inFIG. 7 showing how the cultivating elements are mounted at the otherend,

FIG. 10A shows an exploded cross sectional detail of one endconstruction of the ground working tool according to an alternativeembodiment,

FIG. 10B shows an exploded cross sectional detail of the other endconstruction of the ground working tool according to the embodimentshown in FIG. 10A,

FIG. 11 shows an assembly of cultivating elements with a double bank ofcultivating elements linked together which is adapted to be used withthe embodiment as in FIG. 10A and B, and

FIG. 12 shows a detail of one end of a ground working tool with thedouble bank of cultivating elements mounted thereon.

Now looking in detail at the drawings and in particular the embodimentshown in FIG. 1 there is shown a general view of an elongate groundworking tool according to this invention. The ground working toolcomprises essentially a cylindrical support 1 upon which are supported anumber of individual cultivating elements 2 in what may be termed achain mail type assembly with each cultivating element 2 presenting twotines 3 so that the outer surface of the ground working tool has theappearance of a number of spikes extending outwards. Terminal loops 4which will be explained in more detail with respect to later drawingshold the final cultivating elements 7 onto the end assembly generallyshown as 5 of the ground working tool. An axle 6 extends out of the endof the ground working tool and is adapted to be mounted to a chassis sothat the ground working tool can be rolled along the ground.

FIG. 2 shows a first embodiment of a cultivating element according tothis invention. In this embodiment the tool element 10 has asubstantially circular body portion 11 which extends for about 270° of acircle. At one end of the body portion 11 a tangential arm 12 extendsand at the other end of the body a tangential arm 13 extends. The arm 13crosses over the arm 12. Beyond the crossing point of the arms 12 and 13there is a bend in each of the arms at substantially right angles andout of the plane of the body portion so that tines 14 and 15 are formed.The tines 14 and 15 may be splayed slightly outwards from each other sothat when the assembly is spread over the surface of a cylinder theyproject substantially radially outwards.

An alternative embodiment of cultivating element is shown in FIG. 3. Inthis embodiment of cultivating element 20 there is a substantiallyU-shaped body having a base portion 21 and side legs 22 and 23. The sidelegs are bent at 24 and 25 upwards and outwards to form a kink in thelegs just before the base 21 so that the base 21 is raised above theplane of the side legs 22 and 23 a sufficient height so that a side legof another tine can pass under the base 21 as will be seen in the laterdrawings showing an assembly technique. The distance between the legs atthe base end is slightly greater than the distance between the legs atthe tine end. Each of the side legs 22 and 23 has a bend in it out ofthe plane of the legs so as to form tines 26 and 27 respectivelyextending up from the legs 22 and 23. The angle of the bend may be inthe range of from 60° to 90° to the legs. The tines 26 and 27 may besplayed slightly outwards from each other so that when an assembly ofcultivating elements is placed over the cylindrical surface of acylinder then each of the tines projects substantially radiallyoutwards.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic plan view of an assembly of cultivatingelements of the type shown in FIG. 2. Each cultivating element 10 hasthe arms 13 and 12 of two adjacent cultivating elements extending underits circular body portion 11 with their tines 15 and 14 extending upthrough the centre of the circular portion. The tines 14 and 15 of thecultivating element 10 themselves extend up underneath the bodies of twoadjacent cultivating elements 10. The length direction of thecylindrical support is shown by the arrow 16 and the circumference isshown by the arrow 17. With the whole arrangement assembled around thecylindrical support and kept in tension along the length of thecylindrical support from the ends then the chain mail type assembly willstay together and provide a cultivating tool,

FIG. 5 shows an assembly of the cultivating elements of the type shownin FIG. 3. Each cultivating element 20 has tines 26 and 27 of twoadjacent cultivating elements extending up into the corners between theside legs 22 or 23 and the base 21 and its tines extending up throughthe corners of further adjacent cultivating elements. The lengthdirection of the cylindrical support is shown by the arrow 28 and thecircumference is shown by the arrow 29. Once again by this arrangement alinked arrangement of cultivating elements both around the periphery ofa cylindrical support and along the length of the cylindrical supportmay be formed.

It will be realise that the dimensions of the cultivating elements andthe cylindrical support may be selected to enable a desired number ofcultivating elements to fit around and along the cylindrical support.

In one embodiment the cylindrical support may be a coil springmanufactured from flat bar steel with the steel used on the flat so thata substantially cylindrical outer surface is provided to support theindividual cultivating elements.

FIG. 6 shows a portion of the helical coil spring 30 with part of threesuccessive turns shown which present an outer smooth cylindrical surfaceupon which are supported a number of cultivating elements 21:). Theunderside of the legs 22 and 23 rest onto the cylindrical support andcan be arranged to rest on successive coils of the spring. The tines 26and 27 extend substantially radially outwards although at an angleslightly in the length direction of the cylindrical support.

FIG. 7 shows a cross-sectional view of an entire ground working toolaccording to this invention particularly showing a telescoping axle ofone embodiment of the invention. The end assembly 60 provides a mountingfor the first cultivating elements and a stub axle assembly 62. Terminalloops 4 provide an aperture through which the tines of the firstcultivating elements 20 pass. Clamping plate 50 enables the terminalloops 4 to be retained onto the end assembly. The end assembly 61similarly has mounting for the last cultivating elements and a stub axleassembly 62. End tines 34 are of a substantially V-shape and providelegs onto which the final cultivating elements can be looped. Clampingplate 38 mounts the end tines 34 onto the end assembly. Between the endassemblies 60 and 61 is an axle assembly 32, 33 which is in essentiallytwo parts with one part joined to each end plate. A first part is anouter tube 33 joined to the end plate 45 with an inner diametersubstantially same as the outer diameter of an inner axle tube 32 whichextends from the end plate 31. A spring 64 is within the axle 33 and theend of axle tube 63 which is away from the end plate 31 bears againstthe spring 64. The other end of the spring 64 bears against the endplate 45. The spring 64 is adapted to provide an extension force betweenthe end assemblies to maintain the integrity of the links between thecultivating elements. A special tool may be provided (not shown) to drawthe end assemblies closer together against the tension in the spring 64to loosen off the tension in the links between the cultivating elementsto originally assemble the cultivating elements or to replace a damagedone. By the addition or removal of spacers or shims (not shown) at theends of the spring 64 the tension in the spring and hence the tension inthe links between the cultivating elements may be varied to change theflexibility of the tool as a whole and hence its ground followingability.

FIG. 8 shows an end view of the end assembly 60. Clamping plate 50clamps a number of terminal loops 4 against the end plate 47. Tines 26and 27 from two adjacent cultivating elements extend through oneterminal loop 4. Bolts 70 are provided to mount the stub axle assembly62 to the end assembly.

FIG. 9 shows an end assembly 61 in which the clamping plate 38 clampsend tines 34 which are a V-shape onto the end plate 46. A base 21 of atine is looped over adjacent end tines 34. Bolts 71 allow the stub axleassembly 62 to be mounted to the end assembly 61. The legs of the endtines 34 are extended so that they provide operational digging elementsin use.

As best can be seen in FIG. 9 the distance 65 on a cultivating element20 between the legs at the base end of the legs is greater than thedistance 66 between the legs at the tine end.

FIG. 10, 11 and FIG. 12 show an alternative arrangement of groundworking tool according to this invention in which there are two sets ofcultivating elements mounted onto a cylindrical support. FIG. 10A and Bshow suitable end assemblies for this embodiment. FIG. 11 shows theassembly shown laid out flat and FIG. 12 shows a close up particularlyof the end mounting assembly.

FIG. 10A shows a first end assembly of a ground Working tool accordingto a this embodiment of the invention. The helical spring 100 terminatesin a first end plate 101. Within the helical spring is an axle 102. Theend plate 101 has an extra tine 104 mounted onto it. The base of thefirst cultivating element is adapted to loop onto the tine 104. Thisembodiment of ground working tool has a double assembly of cultivatingelements and hence there is a spacer 105 and then a second end plate 106with a further end tine 107 upon which is to be looped the base of thecultivating elements of the second set. The spacer 105 acts as aclamping plate for the end tines 104 and a clamping plate 108 clamps theend tines 107. A bolt 109 and nut 110 is used to clamp the end plate 111of the axle 102 right through to the clamping plate 108. A stub axle andbearing assembly 112 is adapted to be mounted into the end plate 106 sothat the ground working tool can be mounted onto a chassis for rotation.

FIG. 10B shows the end assembly at the other end of the ground workingtool. Once again the spring 100 terminates in a first end plate 120. Aterminal loop 121 is adapted to be clamped to the end plate 120 by meansof spacer 122 and a tine of a cultivating element can be looped under aterminal loop 121. The second end plate 123 again has a terminal loop124 and a clamping plate 125. The spacer 122 provides the spacingbetween the first set of tines and the second of tines in the doubletine assembly. A bolt 126 and nut 127 is used to clamp the plate 128 ofthe axle 102 right through to the clamping plate 125. Once again thereis a stub axle assembly 112 which in mounted into the end plate assemblyto the end plate 123 to enable the ground working tool to be mounted toa chassis for rotation.

Looking at FIG. 11 it will be seen that a first set of cultivatingelements 80, 81, 82, 83 and 84 are linked together in a first assemblyand a second assembly of cultivating elements 85, 86, 87 and 88 arelinked together in a second assembly. Although the leg portions of eachassembly interweave with the base portions of the other assembly, thereis no physical connection between the first assembly and the secondassembly with each assembly being independently mounted to therespective end plates.

This double bank arrangement is particularly shown in FIG. 12 in which afirst set of tines 90, 91, 92 and 93 are mounted to end tine 107 on theouter end plate assembly 106 and a second set of tines 95, 96, 97 forinstance are mounted to end tine 104 on the inner end plate assembly101. Similarly at the other end the separate tine assemblies are mountedto separate end assemblies (not shown).

The advantage of using two sets of cultivating elements is that for agiven size of ground working tool twice as many tines extend from thetool which will give greater ground working ability and a greater weightwhich will be useful in some soils.

Preferably each cultivating element is constructed from steel rod bentto the desired shape and in one preferred embodiment the steel rod mayhave a diameter of 25 mm. The rod may be suitably tempered before orafter forming to give sufficient resiliency and hardness for efficientground working and resistance to wear.

Overall it will be seen that by this invention, there is provided aground working implement or rolling trash cultivator which by use of acylindrical support can support a greater number of tines in a grouparound its periphery than has hitherto been possible so that the angleof entry and exit of the tines from the ground does not cause collectionof trash and so that the weight of the tines and the cylindrical supportcan assist with the tines entering the ground to give a good cultivationeffect.

Throughout this specification and the claims that follow unless thecontext requires otherwise, the words `comprise` and `include` andvariations such as `comprising` and `including` will be understood toimply the inclusion of a stated integer or group of integers but not theexclusion of any other integer or group of integers.

I claim:
 1. An elongate ground working implement rotatably supportedabout a longitudinal axis, said ground working implement comprising:anelongate cylindrical support having longitudinal ends, a plurality ofinterlocking cultivating elements arranged on a peripheral cylindricalsurface of the cylindrical support, at least one tine extending fromeach cultivating element, and a support configured to support thecylindrical support rotatably about the longitudinal axis, wherein theperipheral cylindrical surface of the cylindrical support is flexible orresilient in a radial direction.
 2. An elongate ground working implementas in claim 1 wherein the cylindrical support is a helical coil spring.3. An elongate ground working implement as in claim 2 wherein coils ofthe helical coil spring are made from a flat metal bar having flatsurfaces so the peripheral cylindrical surface is provided by the flatsurfaces of the metal bar to give support for the cultivating elements.4. An elongate ground working implement as in claim 1 further includingan axle within the cylindrical support and the cylindrical support beingmounted at respective of said ends to the axle so that the cylindricalsupport between said ends is free to flex to allow ground followingduring use.
 5. An elongate ground working implement as in claim 4wherein the axle includes means to allow for the application of anextension force between ends of the axle so as to apply tension to theplurality of cultivating elements on the cylindrical support.
 6. Anelongate ground working implement as in claim 5 wherein the means toallow for the application of an extension force between ends of the axlecomprise a telescoping axle and a compression spring within thetelescoping axle.
 7. An elongate ground working implement as in claim 1wherein each of the cultivating elements is interconnected with fouradjacent cultivating elements around the circumference of thecylindrical support and along the length of the cylindrical support toprovide an integral structure of cultivating elements over theperipheral cylindrical surface of the cylindrical support.
 8. Anelongate ground working implement as in claim 1 further including endassemblies at each end of the cylindrical support, said cultivatingelements being arranged in groups with a first group at one end of thecylindrical support and a last group at the other end of the cylindricalsupport, the end assemblies including means to retain the first and lastgroups of cultivating elements.
 9. An elongate ground working implementas in claim 1 wherein each cultivating element comprises a substantiallyU-shaped portion and two tines, said U-shaped portion including a baseportion and two leg portions and defining a plane, said two tinesextending from respective of said leg portions at an angle to saidplane.
 10. An elongate ground working implement as in claim 9 whereinsaid base portion of the substantially U-shaped portion is bent out ofthe plane so as to allow one of the leg portion of an adjacentcultivating element to pass underneath when mounted onto the cylindricalsupport.
 11. An elongate ground working implement as in claim 9 whereinthe distance between the leg portions at the base is greater than thedistance between the leg portions at the tines.
 12. An elongate groundworking implement as in claim 1 wherein each cultivating elementcomprises a circular loop portion, two tangential legs extending fromthe loop portion and crossing each other and with each leg including abend out of the plane of the loop portion beyond the crossing point witheach portion of the leg beyond the bend comprising the tine.
 13. Anelongate ground working implement as in claim 1 wherein there are fromfour to ten cultivating elements around the circumference of thecylindrical support at each position along the length of the cylindricalsupport.
 14. An elongate ground working implement as in claim 1 whereinthe plurality of cultivating elements on the peripheral cylindricalsurface of the cylindrical support comprises a double bank ofcultivating elements so as to provide more ground working tinesextending from the tool.
 15. An elongate ground working implement as inclaim 14 wherein each cultivating element comprises a substantiallyU-shaped portion and two tines, said U-shaped portion including a baseportion and two leg portions and defining a plane, said two tinesextending from respective of said leg portions at an angle to said planeand wherein said base portion of the substantially U-shaped portion isbent out of the plane so as to allow the leg portions of an adjacentcultivating element of both banks of cultivating elements to passunderneath when mounted onto the cylindrical support.
 16. An elongateground working implement as in claim 15 wherein there are from four toten cultivating elements in each bank of cultivating elements around thecircumference of the cylindrical support at each position along thelength of the cylindrical support.
 17. An elongate ground workingimplement as in claim 10 wherein the distance between the leg portionsat the base is greater than the distance between the leg portions at thetines.